The mid-engine C8 Chevrolet Corvette is coming eventually. When that will be remains a mystery. However, as much of the automotive industry is focused on the mid-engine Corvette—a car that’s been rumored for decades—there’s been little discussion about GM’s plan for the current-generation C7 Chevrolet Corvette. A new post on Corvette Forum suggests General Motors could continue to produce the C7 Corvette through 2020; however, the details are sketchy, and there’s plenty of speculation to go around.Â
AÂ GM internal document initially posted onto the forum makes it appear that GM is at least considering producing the C7 Corvette into the 2020 model year. The document lists C7 production for 2020 as TBD (to be determined). That could mean a litany of different things, sadly, and all we can do is speculate about what the automaker plans to do with the current-generation Corvette it introduced back in 2013.Â
GM could be waiting to decide what to do with Corvette production based on the development of the C8 Corvette. Previous reports indicated C8 Corvette production would start in 2019 with the model hitting the market as a 2020 model. However, problems have plagued the development process that has allegedly delayed its rollout.Â
In December 2018, we reported the C8 Corvette was delayed six months due to an electric issue. News of the delay came days after GM said it would not unveil the mid-engine Corvette at the 2019 North American International Auto Show. Rumors suggested C7 Chevrolet Corvette production would end in August 2019 with C8 Corvette production staring a month later. However, a new rumor suggests production won’t start until December of this year, three months later than previously believed.Â
If the document is accurate, then GM could be tying its decision on C7 Corvette production to the development of the C8 Corvette.
GM may have recognized that a mid-engine Corvette may not be for everybody, and selling the C7 Corvette with its traditional layout alongside the revolutionary C8 could keep a broader audience happy. That said, C7 Corvette inventories have been piling up. So as much as we would love to see two Corvettes on the market, demand for the traditional model appears to be waning.
Comments
Given that there are currently 232 days of inventory of the C7 Corvette on hand.. Chevrolet could essentially stop production now and only build cars that are special orders because it may take until mid-2020 to sell all of the C7 Corvettes.
Remember, not everybody can afford the C8! If they stop the C7, a lot of Corvette enthusiasts are going to be upset!
BS They say the C8 should cost about 5K more then the same version C7. So it wont have anything to do with cost! If you can afford 60K then 65K should be zero problems!
The C7 still has the Convertible, and it’s still a beautiful car!
I remember when Porsche rolled out the 928, and everyone thought the 911 was on the way out.
When you think of all of the investment that went into the C7, making it a spectacular sports car, I’d like to see it live on.
With a commitment from GM to keep the C7, many potential buyers would feel better about buying, just knowing that the front engine isn’t going away.
There is room for both !
The proportions of the C7 are nearly perfect, while the mid-engine car is misshapen and ugly both front and back.
The C7 not only offers a convertible, but also a manual trans and cargo space for two on a long weekend. Why would Corvette abandon the market segment it has dominated for decades and roll the dice on an unproven design that may well flop in the marketplace?
The market for a mid-engine Corvette is unknown and the price point at which it could sell necessary volumes is pure speculation. The mid-engine car could be the New Coke of this decade.
I agree wholeheartedly! Corvette needs to become its own brand with room for a C7, C8, hybrid ,even a 4 door and SUV models. Porsche does it, why can’t Corvette/GM? Ferrari has front engined as well as mid-engine models, why can’t Corvette/GM? Jaguar, Audi & Lamborghini have sports cars AND SUV’s, why not Corvette/GM? There is a niche but I guess Cadillac may cry foul…
Corvette SUV would be a big seller just like Porsche’s SUVs.
In fact, that is what GM should have done instead of the mid-engine.
Brilliant idea Paul. But, that would require GM to have somebody in management to have foresight and a vision for where the auto industry is going. Just like the mid-engine is coming out at the bottom of the sports car demand, maybe GM will bring out a Corvette SUV in about 10 years when SUV’s are no longer the rage.
“With a commitment from GM to keep the C7, many potential buyers would feel better about buying, just knowing that the front engine isn’t going away.
There is room for both !”
You’re on the ‘bargaining’ stage of the 5 stages of grief. You’re half way to accepting that the C7 will eventually die.
I suspect folks are going to be surprised what it is like to drive a mid-engine sports car. It’s not necessarily “better,” just different. There are significant negatives re space, handling on ice, noise issues, warm up (heater). It is no accident there have been problems getting this animal ready for production. Have driven and owned several mid-engine jobs. Not necessarily a panacea. Different strokes for different folks.
Since when has an electrical issue kept GM from releasing a new model? And why would it take so long to fix?
There might be something else going on. It could be the green eye shade guys had a coronary when they realized really how much a mid engine sports costs is to produce, and find themselves in panic mode against the backdrop of working for bosses for who only care about profit, and the present difficulty finding buyers for even front engine Vettes costing half as much.
Better dig out that Cobalt ignition switch; it’s cheaper.
These people who complain that bosses only care about profits have never had to answer to the real people who pay the Bill’s it’s easy to say I would do this or that until its your neck!
GM found out the hard way what happens if you don’t make profits: Bankruptcy.
GM and the rest of the auto industry in America would be history now, but the government needed the jobs so GM got a bailout.
“the rest of the auto industry in America would be history now”
Not true. GM and FCA needed the bailout, Ford did not.
https://www.thebalance.com/auto-industry-bailout-gm-ford-chrysler-3305670
Ford took $$ to stay competitive and repaid it’s debt.
“By April 2009, it retired $9.9 billion of the debt it had taken out in 2006.”
Read the whole article, it’s very informative.
If GM and Chrysler had collapsed, the entire auto industry in America would have been dragged under too. Ford execs testified to this before Congress and were in favor of bailouts to GM and Chrysler. Congress did not want to lose the whole industry so it agreed to the bailout.
You obviously didn’t read the article. If Ford, as you say, testified, it was on GM and FCA’s behalf. Ford did not need the bailout and therefore was not considered part of said bailout. They DID take a loan that was repaid as mentioned above. Ford would have been just fine and perhaps prospered if there was no competition being the only remaining manufacturer. The main motivating factor was the job loss and, of course, Ford having a monopoly. Face the facts please. The “lose the whole industry” is a opinion, not fact, and Ford would have remained.
Nope. The supply chains that Ford depended on, would have collapsed with GM and Chrysler. They needed volumes that Ford alone could not supply. The whole industry was in grave danger which is why Congress gave GM and Chrysler all they needed and did it in record time. Much different than when Chrysler was bailed out in the 80s.
More opinion my friend. “The supply chains that Ford depended on, would have collapsed with GM and Chrysler.”
I don’t see any links supporting your assumption…..
Where is your supporting evidence/proof?? I provide links to what I state and refute what you state yet you do not.
Tim Geithner in the Washington Post on 5/31/2011:
“The challenges extended beyond GM and Chrysler. The restructuring of these automakers could affect companies throughout the supply chain that employed nearly 400,000 American workers. Ford and other automakers depended on those suppliers, increasing the risk of damage if they liquidated or moved overseas.
It was the uniquely deep linkages between the auto companies and suppliers, dealers and communities that led some experts to estimate that at least 1 million jobs could have been lost if GM and Chrysler went under.”
Ok, you provide info regarding job loss if GM and FCA went under and is exactly one of the concerns the government had and led to those bailouts, obviously. Where is the link, article,proof that it would have ANY impact on Ford? Doesn’t, didn’t Ford have it’s own supply chains???? Are Ford brakes the same as Chevy? No. Are Ford A/C compressors the same as Chevy? No. Are ANY Ford parts interchangeable with Chevy? No. The ONLY part that will bear any similarity will be the 10spd auto which was CO DEVELOPED and even then, will Ford’s 10 spd auto that bolts up to mustang bolt up to any Chevy? NO.
Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Dec. 5, 2008: “In particular, the collapse of one or both of our domestic competitors would threaten Ford because we have 80 percent overlap in supplier networks and nearly 25 percent of Ford’s top dealers also own GM and Chrysler franchises.”
https://www.factcheck.org/2011/09/ford-motor-co-does-u-turn-on-bailouts/
Learn to Google.
As someone that works for a supplier, the loss of GM and Chrysler would have impacted cash flows from existing programs. Cash flow at suppliers is critical to developing future programs as well as paying on existing obligations to banks. You’re simple minded if you don’t think the collapse of 25% of the customer base (17% for GM and another 8% for Chrysler) would be detrimental to suppliers.
Please forgive me if I find your ID a bit suspect as there have been others who have multiple ID’s to post multiple times on the same topic. Strange I have never seen yours before. Please expound on what you claim. Exactly what “supplier” do you work for and what do you supply and to whom??? Any fraudulent posts are eventually found out. If you truly have something to contribute, I’m all ears and would enjoy your input/revelations as I certainly don’t have all the answers or work in the automotive “supplier” industry. Thanx…
Your previous comment. “GM and the rest of the auto industry in America would be history now” I still say BS. Speculation at best so PROVE it.
“would threaten Ford” was what Mulally stated in your last post but he does not say it would lead to Ford’s demise so everything you state is pure speculation, not fact.
There is not one shred of evidence that Ford would have gone under and is STILL only your opinion. Again, Ford didn’t get a bailout, they got a loan and it has been paid back. As for suppliers, they downsize and certainly not go under with Ford still a customer. Oh, and how much MORE of the market share would Ford gain if GM/FCA had gone under therefore increasing Ford’s demand from suppliers????
We can speculate all day long as we’ll never know for sure but don’t make a statement like Ford would have gone bankrupt too without GM and FCA. Especially without FACTS. Google FACTS buddy.
So show me some FACTS where a Ford exec said it could survive without GM and Chrysler. You got nuthin.
What?!? Like ANY CEO is gonna’ say something like that? Your an idiot, and that’s a FACT. Seriously think about it. Oh my!! We’re going out of business because we have NO domestic competitors!!
Are you F’n serious?!?!
And you got what? SPECULATION BS and nothing more…
I don’t think they can build the C7 and C8 on the same line in Bowling Green. The cars are very different and the Corvette plant is limited for room. I would think people are waiting for the C8, so C7 sales have slowed way down.
They’re so different they should build both. Let the buyers decide which they prefer.
Chevy needs to address the problem the auto transmission is having on the c7.
Produce both. A Stingray and Zora. Having choices is a good thing; front engine, mid-engine, supercharged, turbocharged, normally aspirated, and hopefully—AWD with electrically driven front wheels.
I drive a 2014 Z51 and as much as I love it, I also drive a Focus RS with AWD. If only my Vette could carve corners like that littl RS…
Oh my god the C8 looks like a cheap version of a Honda Civic GT